Cunninghamia Date of Publication: August 2016 A journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia ISSN 0727- 9620 (print) • ISSN 2200 - 405X (Online) Thomas Reedy 1842-1929: gardener for Sir William Macarthur and plant collector on the Chevert Expedition to New Guinea in 1875 Graham R. Fulton School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch WA 6150, AUSTRALIA. Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Qld 4072, AUSTRALIA. Email: [email protected] Abstract: Thomas Reedy (1842-1929), gardener from 1854-1926 at Camden Park, the family estate of the Macarthurs in western Sydney was sent by Sir William Macarthur on the Chevert Expedition to New Guinea in 1875. He collected plants on islands off the Queensland coast; Cape Grenville; around the Somerset outpost on the tip of Cape York; on islands in the Torres Strait; and around two locations on the mainland of southern Papua New Guinea. Reedy sent or brought back 800-1000 living plants, in addition to an unknown number of seeds, and at least 157 dried specimens, the latter sent to Baron Ferdinand von Mueller in Melbourne. This study is focused on locating the dried plant specimens now held in herbaria and highlighting their significance. Reedy is something of an enigma with little ever written about him. His initial has been presented erroneously since 1875 and has gone through various morphs including J, P, M and T; searches for Reedy best use all these initials or just his family name. Keywords: Chevert, Sir William Macleay, Baron von Mueller, Camden Park Cunninghamia (2016) 16: 51-63 doi: 10.7751/cunninghamia.2016.16.007 Cunninghamia: a journal of plant ecology for eastern Australia © 2016 Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/science/Scientific_publications/cunninghamia 52 Cunninghamia 16: 2016 Thomas Reedy, Chevert Expedition Thomas Reedy (1842–1929) The literature and herbarium records were searched for extant Reedy or Macarthur specimens: Macarthur specimens were Thomas Reedy entered the employment of Sir William only searched for in the area and times corresponding with Macarthur in 1854 at the age of twelve, soon after arriving the Chevert Expedition and following leads in Macarthur’s from Tipperary in Ireland (Anon. 1926), and was to stay in 1875 Sydney Morning Herald newspaper article (Macarthur the employ of the Macarthur and Onslow families at Camden 1875). The following herbaria were searched by their own Park in western Sydney for his entire working life (1854- staff: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K); Papua New Guinea 1926). He was held in high esteem, and at his retirement from National Herbarium (LAE); Singapore Herbarium (SING); his position as head gardener on February 20, 1926, at the age Central Regional Centre —Botanical Survey of India (BSI); of 84 (Anon. 1926), he was offered a permanent home on the Herbarium Bogoriense (BO); National Herbarium of Victoria Camden Park estate. However, he chose to reside with his son (MEL); National Herbarium of New South Wales (NSW); James in Hurstville, Sydney. He passed away in January 1929 and Australia’s Virtual Herbarium. Many herbaria stated that almost three years after his retirement; his funeral service was their databases were incomplete or could not be searched by held at St. Pauls Church, Camden and he was buried in the a collector’s name (searches by hand were limited without Catholic Cemetery at Camden (Anon. 1929). explicitly having the names of taxa). I did not search or press for more searches after this was established. Reedy’s life had been long associated with the historic gardens at Camden Park (34°05’18”S 150°43’23”E) at Locations for Reedy’s specimen collections were deduced Camden in western Sydney where he had been Sir William or taken directly from the following sources: the two Macarthur’s “right hand man” and had held control over the diaries given above; the publications of Melbourne botanist orchard operations from their inception to his last day—he Ferdinand von Mueller (1875–77; 1876a; 1876b 1878; planted every tree by hand in the big orchard (Anon. 1926). 1888) and Adolf Engler (1910); the data from the sheets Thus for 70 years Reedy was the unheralded gardener of surviving herbarium specimens held at MEL and NSW standing in the shadow of Macarthur. Sir William Macarthur available on Australia’s Virtual Herbarium; and Reedy’s (1800-1882) (a son of Captain John Macarthur, a noted figure sequential specimen-numbering system (Reedy numbered in the very early history of Australia), was deeply involved in his specimens in chronological order) which aided specimen agriculture and horticulture; he is credited with introducing placement at collecting sites. However, this was not a panacea the camellia, cultivating fruit trees and vegetables, growing to resolving collection locations, because many specimens orchids in a hot house and, from 1843 publishing an annual or accounts of specimens no longer have Reedy’s original catalogue of Camden Park’s plants. He is also credited with number making his numbering system a fragmentary utility. pioneering winemaking in Australia, and was President of The specimen with Reedy number 31 (MEL 2046542A) did the Agricultural Society of New South Wales (Teale 2016). not appear to follow Reedy’s sequential pattern; perhaps at He was Commissioner at the International Exhibition in some stage the number, which is a very small cut-out piece of Paris 1855 where his collection of Australian woods was paper, has become separated from its original specimen and shown, and Executive Commissioner at London in 1862; incorrectly returned to another specimen. Whatever happened, his catalogue contained authentic Aboriginal names of trees the number 31 is ignored in this assessment of collecting (Maiden 1908; Teale 2016). locations. Some errors were found in Mueller’s publications. He erroneously transcribed Katau River to Ratau (see below) However this paper does not attempt to unravel Reedy’s and he attributed some specimens erroneously to Baxter’s involvement at the gardens of Camden Park, nor his precise River instead of the Ethel River (see below). role in the horticultural pursuits of his employer Macarthur. My aim is to introduce Reedy and to shed light on the plants that he and his aides collected during the 1875 Chevert Reedy’s Initials Expedition to tropical Queensland, Torres Strait and New Guinea; and in particular to identify as precisely as possible Confusion has reigned over the initial of the given name for what plants were collected, where and when. Thomas Reedy. Dowe (2007) highlighted that Reedy had been variously initialled J, M or P, although Dowe used the given name Thomas that had been published by Macarthur in Methods 1875 (Macarthur 1875). The initials under consideration are given in square brackets before they are discussed. [J] The This study forms part of a larger study into the natural history first culprit in the erroneous application of Reedy’s initial collections of the Macleays (a family whose members were was Mueller who published “J. Reedy” in his first and then prominent in Australian entomological studies) and benefits subsequent issues of Descriptive Notes on Papuan Plants from this deeper insight (e.g Fulton 2001; 2012; 2013; 2016a; (Mueller 1875-77). This was probably a transcription error. 2016b; Fulton and Bialek 2015 and my unpublished notes). Mueller may have had some difficulty deciphering Reedy’s Dates were taken from my own unpublished analysis of the handwriting. In his second issue of Descriptive Notes on Chevert Expedition generated from the personal journal of Papuan Plants, Mueller corrected the repeated transcription Sir William Macleay (Macleay 1875a) and the private diary error of “Ratau River” with the following statement: “Katau- of Lawrence Hargrave, aeronautical pioneer and explorer River; J. Reedy. The great watercourse, just mentioned, was (Hargrave 1874–1876). incorrectly written in the first portion of this enumeration” Cunninghamia 16: 2016 Thomas Reedy, Chevert Expedition 53 (Mueller 1876, p 25). [P] Of the fourteen herbarium sheets (specifically his book Botanists of the Eucalypts, 1978) checked from the National Herbarium of Victoria (MEL) to mistakenly state that Reedy, “who collected the type all carried Mueller’s label with the name “Reedy” without of Eucalyptus papuana” in 1875, was named Michael, initials. The single sheet seen from the National Herbarium referencing a Michael Reedy who was “the only Reedy of New South Wales (NSW–303018 Eucalyptus papuana) whose death was recorded in New South Wales during the had “Patrick Reedy”. The given name “Patrick” had been nineteenth century” (Hall 1978; CHAH 2007). However, pencilled onto the sheet’s MEL label (see Figure 2). In Joseph Reedy’s funeral and a short biography were reported in the Maiden’s Records of Australian Botanists under the heading Camden News and The Sydney Morning Herald (Anon. 1926; Macarthur, William (1800–1882) appears the following: “He 1929). The assortment of names ascribed to Reedy has led sent his gardener Mr. P. Reedy, to New Guinea” (Maiden to different documents giving a variety of different initials. 1908). Perhaps Maiden is the origin of the P initial? [M] Thus, searches for Reedy can be made using the initials J, P, The Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria (CHAH) M, or T, although only T will stand for Thomas. website (2007) quoted the botanical historian Norman Hall Figure 1. The 1875 voyage of the Chevert showing collecting points and the general direction of travel. 54 Cunninghamia 16: 2016 Thomas Reedy, Chevert Expedition The Chevert Expedition name or description to any new thing. Mr. Macleay very kindly gave me free quarters amongst his working staff In May 1875, the barque Chevert departed Sydney bound on board the Chevert for three men—the chief of them for New Guinea, the first scientific expedition originating is Mr Thomas Reedy, who from childhood has been in Australia to leave for foreign shores (Figure 1).